Movie & TV Show Recommender API

Overview

This is a FastAPI-based application that suggests movies and TV shows using The Movie Database (TMDb) API. Users can:

• Search for movies 🎬
• Get popular & top-rated movies ⭐
• Get recommendations based on input
• Browse top-rated TV shows 📺
• Use a simple frontend to explore movies

Features

✅ FastAPI backend

✅ TMDb API integration for movie data

✅ HTML & JavaScript frontend

✅ Dynamic search with movie posters & descriptions

✅ Deployment-ready for local or cloud hosting

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1️⃣ Setup & Installation

1.1 Clone the Repository

Open a terminal and run:

#  Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/fastapi-movie-recommender.git

# Navigate to the project directory
cd fastapi-movie-recommender

1.2 Create a Virtual Environment

Use Python's venv to isolate dependencies:

#  Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate it
# On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

1.3 Install Dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

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2️⃣ Get a TMDb API Key

To fetch movies & TV shows, you must register for an API key at TMDb:

1. Visit TMDb API
2. Sign up & create a developer account
3. Get your API Key (v3 auth)
4. Store it in a .env file

#  Create the .env file in your project directory
nano .env

Inside .env, add:

TMDB_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

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3️⃣ Running the Project Locally

3.1 Start the FastAPI Server

   uvicorn app.main:app --reload

This will run the server at: http://127.0.0.1:8000/

3.2 Access the Frontend

Open a browser and go to:

• Frontend: http://127.0.0.1:8000/static/index.html
• API Docs (Swagger UI): http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs
• Redoc UI: http://127.0.0.1:8000/redoc

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4️⃣ API Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description
/movies/popular	GET	Get popular movies
/movies/top-rated	GET	Get top-rated movies
/movies/search/?query=movie_name	GET	Search for a movie
/tv/top-rated	GET	Get top-rated TV shows

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5️⃣ Deployment Options

Option 1: Local (Uvicorn)

   uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Option 2: Deploy on Render Website

What is Render? A Cloud Application Service provider

Think of "Render" as a service that takes your website or application code and makes it live on the internet.

1. Push your code to GitHub

   git add .
   git commit -m "Ready for deployment"
   git push origin main

2. Go to Render & create a new Web Service
3. Connect your GitHub repo & set up environment variables:
   • TMDB_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
4. Deploy & test it at your Render URL 🚀

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6️⃣ Additional Tips & Tricks

✅ Use Postman or httpie to test API requests:

    http GET http://127.0.0.1:8000/movies/popular

✅ Enable caching (if needed) using Redis:

    pip install fastapi-cache2 redis

✅ Customize the frontend (static/index.html, static/style.css) ✅ Secure the API with authentication if required

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💡 Contribution & Support

• Found a bug? Open an issue on GitHub!
• Want to contribute? Fork & submit a PR ✨

📌 Made with ❤️ using FastAPI & TMDb API